Senior Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee on Tuesday hit out on the party’s rebel MPs calling them as “traitors" and warning them not to underestimate “Mamata Didi". He asserted that she is a “fighter" and will make a strong comeback. The party also reiterated that it had not been “defeated electorally" but has been “deliberately defeated".
Addressing a press conference here, Senior Trinamool Congress leaders Kalyan Banerjee Kirti Azad taking aim at the rebels said that it was “Maa, Maati, Manush by which all the 29 MPs of Trinamool Congress won the elections". He alleged, “The rebel MPs have betrayed the people of West Bengal. They won’t be able to face the people of their state. They should quit the TMC and join the BJP or any other party and then contest elections."
Calling the rebels “ungrateful and traitors", Banerjee said these leaders who have rebelled today once upon a time heaped praises for Mamata Banerjee. “These people cannot survive without power. They are hungry for power," the Lok Sabha MP said. He even doubted the numbers cited by the rebel side. There is no clarity as to who all signed the letter.
Kalyan Banerjee further said that the party was very happy that all the “double-charactered" people were leaving and also urged them to refrain from using the “Trinamool Congress" whose moto is “Maa, Maati, Manush".
Meanwhile, Kirti Azad too questioned the rebel MPs and dared them to step down as TMC members. “If you were facing problems and grievances, why did you express them only after the election? You should have raised those concerns before the election. After the polls, numerous allegations were made. Shubendu Sekhar made allegations and then resigned. Whether those allegations were right or wrong is a separate matter. But at least he demonstrated a sense of political ethics. He resigned from the party he belonged to, gave up the Rajya Sabha membership he held under that party’s symbol, and stepped down. If you also have political ethics, then resign and contest elections on a BJP ticket," Azad said.
On Yusuf Pathan, Kalyan Banerjee said that he spoke to the Baharampur MP on phone who said that he got a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah and he would go to Delhi to meet him. Banerjee accused the Union Home Minister of attempting to engineer divisions within the TMC and alleged that the centre was “murdering democracy" by trying to destabilise the opposition parties.
